Walking In

Two weeks ago, we were packing up our campus – preparing for the following day: moving day! I’ve never met anyone who likes to move. Given the choice between moving and having a root canal, I’ll take the root canal – gladly. However, the prospect that moving to a bright and shiny new facility would allow us to better serve our students was motivation enough. We were pumped and ready to pack. Just as we thought we couldn’t be more motivated, Joe walked in.

Joe is always walking in. Each evening when he walks into our campus, his hardy greetings seem to electrify the place. Joe walks into each office – into my office. Whatever is wrong with the day always gets a little better when Joe walks in.

As a non-traditional student, Joe is older than many of his millennial and Gen X classmates. As his instructor, I quickly found that Joe brought a lot of wisdom to the classroom and wasn’t shy to share it with us! Much has been written about generational differences these days. When Joe walked into my classroom, it became evident that there are more similarities than differences between us – that we’re all ultimately searching for the same things in life – confirmation that our lives matter: a sense of purpose.

We didn’t ask for student volunteers to help us prepare for the move, but, as I mentioned previously, Joe walked in – a May, 2016 graduate of Belhaven University (BS in Management) and newly enrolled graduate student (Master of Science in Leadership). We talked, laughed, packed, and all shared a meal together. A day that we had not looked forward to suddenly became a very good day.

The day after we packed for the move, Joe had a massive stroke. As of this writing, he is not doing well. Please pray for Joe. We don’t know if he will ever walk into our campus again – only God knows. A family member wrote the following: Joe was very proud of his work at Belhaven and learning with your organization gave him a great sense of purpose…thank you for that.

Of all the things that adult degree programs do for their students (better pay, opportunities for promotions, etc.), providing a student with “a great sense of purpose” represents our highest calling. Joe, and the adult students he represents, reminds us that amidst the discussion of career goals and academic planning, a much deeper longing motivates students when they walk through our doors.

I don’t think it’s an accident that adult students find purpose in programs like ours. The Christian worldview component has something to do with that for sure. There’s also the people component – the faculty, staff, and fellow students. We’re family, and its “family” that motivates a student to show up, to hang out, to walk into our offices –and ultimately into our lives. For this, we should be grateful.

 

 

Ed Pickel – Chattanooga/Dalton Campus

Using Your Talents

Does the fear of failure keep you away from trying things that could be great for you? Do you feel like God is leading you to do something that you are hesitant to start? There are many people who feel the same way. Starting something new and unknown is difficult and unsettling; however, in order to grow, people need to be in situations that force them to strive for something difficult to attain.

An example of this is the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. A master gives three of his servants one talent each. This was no small sum. The modern equivalent to a talent could be as much as a million dollars. This master believed in his servants and expected a great deal from them. The first two were wise and invested well. They brought back much more than their master initially gave them. But the third was concerned that he would lose the master’s money and did not make any effort to invest it. Instead, he buried it for safe keeping. Little did he know that this was the worst thing that he could do.

Talents

It is oddly coincidental that a measure of money back then was called “talent” because this is also something of value to the Master. He gives us talents that we are to invest in business or people. The problem comes when we let fear overtake us, and we bury our talent inside of us instead of using it. We were not meant to bury it, but to use it for the good of ourselves, others, and to glorify the One who gave the gift.

Knowledge is like these talents. You are investing in your education in order to grow the talent that God has naturally given you. He has instructed you to do so, and given you the ability. Now it is up to you to put in the work of growing that talent into something more than it was before!

Student Success

Keep striving until completion. He gave you the talent, and He will give you strength and endurance to finish!